


Crimson Snow

by lysissisyl



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, F/F, Spoilers, lot of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:14:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24096409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lysissisyl/pseuds/lysissisyl
Summary: SS, but Edelgard “remembers” CF in her dreams, and she truly misses her nightmares.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Crimson Snow

Edelgard was still shaking slightly when she saw her.  
“Professor... What are you doing here?”  
Byleth looked around, still on her guard: “I heard something.”  
“Oh? Perhaps I was talking in my sleep.” Edelgard answered as calmly as she could.  
“Bad dreams?” Byleth was staring, her head slightly tilted to the right.  
Edelgard looked away, avoiding her gaze.  
“Ah... So you heard me, then. Yes, it was a nightmare. I've had them since I was a child. Stupid, pointless dreams I can't control... It's terribly frustrating.”  
She felt warmth. She always felt warmth when Byleth was by her side. But...why did it feel so...different?  
A sunbeam through her window. A different kind of warmth indeed.  
She rubbed her eyes.

She remembered that day, when she told Byleth about her nightmares. She remembered when she told her about her childhood, about the dungeon. She remembered Byleth holding her hand and...NO! No no no no!  
She pressed her hands on her temples, hard.  
Those weren’t but dreams, all of them. Dreams that confused her, dreams that made her weak.  
“Dear old nightmares, how I miss you.”  
It was days like this she wished she woke up sweaty, terrified, still hearing her siblings scream.  
The screams brought fear, they brought anger, and anger kept her going.

Then, she remembered something else, another day: Byleth’s eyes blank, her left hand shielding Rhea, her right one holding the Sword of the Creator...pointing it at her chest.  
The Red Emperor’s mask had never felt so heavy.  
She shook her head to chase the memory away. This one was real, as real as the messenger who came to her the day after the battle, informing her that the professor was missing.  
Five years had passed, but both those memories still haunted her.  
“Dear hold nightmares, how I miss you...”

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Edelgard forced herself out of bed, her regalia waiting in a corner of the room.  
She took her time to get ready, doing her hair with more care than usual, slowly wrapping it around her crown.  
She looked at herself in the mirror: she was far more intimidating than her younger self. Would her former professor think the same? Would she look at her and see the fierce Emperor? Or would she only see Edelgard and talk to her as she always did?  
She shook her head again. There was no point in indulging in question she had no way to find answers to.  
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock. “Lady Edelgard, I received a report from the scouts.”  
“Is it urgent, Hubert?”  
“No, nothing out of the ordinary”  
“Then I suppose you can take care of that.”  
“As you wish.” A short silence followed, then Hubert spoke again. “If I may...”  
“I am going, Hubert. And I am going alone.”  
“I would not recommend it. Many people would gladly seize the opportunity to attempt on your life.”  
Many people, and one person in particular; he didn’t need to say it.  
“We talked about this already, Hubert. I won’t discuss it further. Please, take care of any unexpected event in my absence.”  
“Again, as you wish, lady Edelgard.”  
She waited for the sound of his steps to fade and exhaled slowly, fastening her sword to her side and leaving the room.  
She knew Hubert was right, but for once she didn’t want to listen. She could apologize to him later. Now...now she couldn’t talk about it, she couldn’t explain. What could she tell him? That she was chasing a dream? Or trying to escape from it? The same dream, almost every night... Maybe it’ll leave her alone after today.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Five years...  
Edelgard was walking on the same ground as that day, the day she attacked Garreg Mach, the day her teacher fell.  
She had heard Thales calling her “Fell Star” before, but had she fell for real that time?  
She had ordered to look for her, she had looked for her herself, sifting through debris until her gloves ripped and her hands bled.  
Nothing.  
Then why was she even there, walking slowly towards the Goddess tower, looking for a ghost...or an enemy?  
Still she felt a painful sting in her chest when she entered the small building and was welcomed by silence and shadows. What did she expect? In the unlikely case Byleth was still alive, she had probably forgotten about that promise long ago, and even if she hadn’t, what reason would she have to come, except for trying to kill her?  
Still, she waited. Every minute grew heavier and her shoulders were already tired, but hope can be overbearing, even hope against all odds. Especially hope against all odds.  
Then the footsteps came, slow, firm, and familiar.  
“My teacher...”  
She took a deep breath and turned to face the entrance with a blank face, waiting for Byleth to appear. “What are you doing here?”  
“I made a promise.”  
She remembered.  
“What have you been doing all this time?”  
“I was sleeping.”  
That answer...A joke? Or maybe a way to dodge the question.  
Not that she could believe her words anyway. She chose the church, she chose to fight her, to kill her.  
Still, the words came out of her mouth, almost against her will. “Will you return to the Empire with me?”  
Byleth looked away. “I...”  
Edelgard dropped her eyes. “Hesitation. It betrays your true answer.”  
Why was she even in pain? Didn’t she know the answer already? She shouldn’t have asked, she never meant to ask.  
Byleth didn’t answer, so she said it out loud, to force herself to listen, not to forget again. “We are enemies now, you and I.”  
Pain. And still no answer.  
There was no more time to talk; she had always been prepared to walk her path alone, even if it meant to face her, to fight her, and this was the time to act.  
She drew her sword: just another hard decision to make. Byleth did the same: just a reflex from when she was a mercenary.

The clang of the blades filled the room, the sound of a shattering dream.  
“Even thought our swords may cross as they do now...there’s no denying that our chosen paths never will.”  
She turned around, putting her sword back in its sheath. “Goodbye, my teacher.  
When next we meet, one of us will breath their last.”  
Next time: she wasn’t ready to face her after all, not today, not in that place, where her parents love was born and hers was doomed.  
Again, she received no answer.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

It was already late, just a few hours before dawn. Edelgard was standing by the window, staring into the distance. She couldn’t stop thinking about it: her own words, Byleth’s silence, their swords crossing, how she walked away, her lips pursed in a grimace.  
Then, another memory hit her: a younger Edelgard leaving that same place after the ball, her lips curved into a smile.  
She lay down on the bed, held the pillow tight, buried her face in it, her hands grabbing the case forcefully, and she cried herself to sleep.

The dream came. Again.  
The tower looked exactly the same and she was waiting, wearing her regalia. She heard Byleth approaching. In her dream though...it always ended with a hug.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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